Tanuja writes with an earthy zest & affection for her characters. Deeply perceptive.

Anooradha Patel, Actor.

IF THE LAST THING YOU DO BEFORE GOING TO BED IS READ A BOOK.. & THE FIRST THING YOU DO IN THE MORNING IS GET BACK TO THE BOOK, THEN THAT BOOK IS NOT JUST A BOOK. IT'S A WORLD SOMEONE HAS CREATED THAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE OR WANT TO RETURN TO, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AFTER HAVING SAID THAT, I STILL FEEL AT A LOSS TO DESCRIBE "FLAMES OF PARADISE"

Karan Razdan, Filmmaker

About

Born on 13th May, 1968, Tanuja Shankar Khan, has been born and brought up in Patna, where she stayed till 1996 with her family.

Masters in English Literature from Patna University and Diploma Holder in Mass Communication, Tanuja was brought up in a very academic and artistic environment, where she along with her three bright siblings was given all opportunities to participate in various forms of performing arts and media like Theater, Music, Drama, Radio, Writing and Television by her erudite parents.

Tanuja, started her professional career by joining her own alma mater, the prestigious Patna Women’s College as a lecturer of Radio & TV Journalism in 1994, teaching students of Communicative English and continued till 1996. Witnessing the satellite television’s boom in metro cities like Bombay and Delhi, She decided to shift to New Delhi and start her career in television. From 1997-2004, she diligently worked for various TV Production Houses and Channels producing and directing different genres of television programming and documentaries for top TV channels in India.

In 2004, her career shifted to media education and she got closely associated with a number of Film & TV Institutes. Having worked as a Channel Advisor, at Doordarshan National, New Delhi for a long while, she is now working as a Creative Director, BAG Films & Media Ltd.

Along with this, Tanuja’s creative buds have always been tickling to create something new and thus she started writing scripts for films, and thus was born the idea for the film, ‘MUSIC MERI JAAN’ based on youths participating in a music reality show. “Flames Of Paradise” is her first novel, after being into writing of short stories and scripts for last 20 years.

Television

My Career started as a Director & Scriptwriter of one of the first ever weekly Food & Travel Shows, "Zaike Ka Safar" for Zee TV which went for five long years. The television career continued with thousands of hours of programming in genres like Lifestyle, Films, Music, Talk Shows, Documentaries and many more.

Documentary Film Making and Developing concepts have always been my forte hence produced many documentaries in the past few years, " Azad Desh Ke Ghulam Log" on the issue of providing subjecthood & citizenship to a handful of West Pakistani Hindu refugees who had left Pakistan 63 years ago to settle on the bordering villages of Jammu, but are still waiting for justice!

"Drops Of Sunshine", AN ADVOCAY FILM on the burning issue of lack of education amongst the nomadic people's children due to their vagabond nature of work.Unicef introduced a novel way of providing bridge schools through 'tents' and 'vans' in and around Madhya Pradesh as well as NCR.

"Red Terror: Naxalism" on the burning issue of Violence amongst the Naxals to achieve their cause.

" Bhagoria: A Tribal Love Fest", a film on the unique festival of love & marriage where boys from Bhil & Bhilala tribes in some districts near Jhabua, in MP select their brides in a more modern 'Swayamvar' in a huge fair just after Holi.

"Jhini Jhini Bini Chadariya" a docu drama on the way silk farming has improved the lives of lakhs of villagers and tribals in rural India.

Film

Music Meri Jaan

A film that explores the reality of reality shows. Twenty talented singers and dancers after many auditions from different parts of India are selected for the biggest music reality show of India, “Music Meri Jaan”.

But little do they know that in Mumbai awaits not just exhilarating excitement, but backbreaking rehearsals, and a whole lot of adjustments, uncertainties, jealousies, lobbying, pressure and above all Chamanlal! Chamanlal, the production manager has double edged motive to hound the20 contestants, hawk eyed, scheming, ruthless and unpredictable. Because Music Meri Jaan is a Reality Show which needs “drama” as its flesh and blood to survive, devouring the emotions and sentiments of whoever comes in its way. Chamanlal uses all means to achieve “drama” for the show, bowing to the demands of the producer and channel, bowing to his heart that says, only one contestant deserves to win…Nilima.

But Why? Why does Chamanlal of all the people have this intense allegiance towards the demure, simple, quiet Nilima? Drama unfolds gradually and builds as no other Reality Show in India ever. Music Meri Jaan escalates the heights of emotional drama and brings all the 20 contestants up against each other, fighting for votes and getting caught in the game of winning and losing….of love, betrayal, jealousy, infighting, hopelessness and loss.

Who or what wins in the end remains to be seen.

FLAMES OF PARADISE

The novel “Flames Of Paradise” is a an adventure romance set in the turbulent terrorist infested Kashmir.

The novel ‘Flames of Paradise’ , published by Oceans Books, is an adventure romance set in the turbulent terrorist infested Kashmir. The story revolves around the feisty young woman Snigdha, who is a professional cinematographer and who bags a plum project of a documentary drama to make in the disturbed land of Srinagar. She lands up in Srinagar to film the documentary only to find that a very tense situation awaits them there. One of the most infamous terrorist outfits ‘Qurban E Jihad’ and ‘Al Faran’ are on an abduction spree.

Snigdha encounters an educated, enigmatic young man, whose identity she is not sure of but who makes her heart beat faster. In the course of their shooting, Snigdha gets abducted and taken hostage and to her horror she realizes that the man she had felt a sharp attraction for, is none other than the man who has played a major role in her abduction. She runs away from the camp in the midst of thick eerie jungles. She is followed and saved by none other than the man who she hates most in the world, called Roshan Khan. She is shocked to realize that he has not come to kill her but to protect her from the stealthily following terrorists. The story thereafter oscillates between danger and adventure, between hatred and attraction, like and dislike, admiration and mistrust.

Would Snigdha come to know who Roshan is? Why is a terrorist protecting her? Would Snigdha reach her destination safely? Or would she be caught by the terrorists? The story of ‘Flames of Paradise ‘ unfolds with each step Snigdha takes in the deadly, dark jungle, where she is torn between love and hate, doubt and faith.

Education

My stint in Media Education started way back in 1994, when I joined the prestigious Carmelite Institution in Patna University, Patna Women's College as a lecturer of Radio & Television Communication.

I have worked for some important media institutes like ISOMES, Purple Rose and IFTI, Meerut, heading each institute in the academic and administration sectors. As a media educator, my specialisation has been developing course content, teaching elements of scriptwriting and direction, branding and promotions and training students in the practical aspects of film making.